Blank Media Collective

Biography / Personal Statement

I have a mixed media BTEC Diploma, a BA(Hons) in Decorative Art and an MA in (philosophical) Cosmology. My latest work combines fashion with craft:

“In a museum in Istanbul at the start of 2010 I saw a kaftan worn by a Sultan that was made of paper and seemed to have been decorated with mathematical and seemingly mysterious script, geometry and text. I was struck by it, quite fascinated. A commentator has written that one example of such a vestment has: "Verses from the quran as well as prayers. It was worn not to get magical effects but…as a form of worship to put the mind in a particular mode of devotion. It was worn particarly in times of battle…to have control over ones own mind by not commiting excessive acts… forbidden by the very words inscribed in the shirt one wore."

When (simultaneously) my father died I decided to create a shroud to cover and make more personal his cardboard/eco coffin. Because of the environmental restrictions of the site, having chosen drawings by each member of my family I sewed them together rather than using glue. Perhaps the idea came from seeing the kaftan.

Our clothes form a physical layer between our inner and outer worlds. Sometimes clothing acts as a veil, sometimes a suggestion, sometimes a statement and sometimes a disguise. One side of any cloth we place around ourselves, living or dead, touches our inner vulnerability and the other is exposed to outer scrutiny. What we wear is read. With the placement of words and images on our clothing we can direct a viewer’s judgments, where they might otherwise project and surmise something about us. Working with paper, rather than with cloth, offers the garment up even more specifically as a canvas for drawing and script. It also transmutes our everyday treatment of paper, from background and surface it takes on a structure and become a medium in its own right. These garments are meant as miniature versions of full size kaftans that would originally have swamped the distinct outline of the human form to its feet. Yet by being small they could also be viewed by a modern audience as a T-shirt or short jacket might. If so worn they would leave the rest of the body exposed whilst plastering the chest, heart and gut areas with information. This is perhaps a realistic analogy of where we carry our mental stimulus about us. There is something of the hospital gown about the simplicity of the shape of the paper kaftan. Where the imagery on it might seem as precious as any artwork this parallel emphasizes the vulnerability of the wripable medium that the emotional psyche is portrayed upon. It also emphasizes the vulnerability of the physical and energetic being inside. As if seen released from the trappings of a physical body (mine) the ideas of the microscosm that is one individual human being, are exposed to the macrocosm around them.”

Since finishing my MA at the end of 2009 my art work has been more affected by the study of cosmology than ever. That is by aspects of the cosmologies of both ancient and modern man. For example: the aura, the Daoist belief in eight human energy bodies and alchemical and mindfulness practices (which encourage the dissolving of psychological imagery.) Stylistically my influences include: the Persian and Indian miniature traditions, Illuminated manuscripts and maps, Icons and Calligraphy. My previous work, with stained-glass, kiln-formed glass and mosaics in particular, mean I have a keen eye for decorative detail and cohesion from fragmentation. Also however it has been a specific desire to combine drawn figurative impression and words with decoration that has driven this move back to the canvas of paper.